Oregon State fades away in the second half... again

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Heading into the locker room, Oregon State allowed just seven points to a Washington offense that came into the game averaging 44.5 points per game.

Washington was 3-7 on third down conversions, had four possessions that did not result in points, and quarterback Jake Browning was sacked three times. The Beavers outplayed the Huskies on that side of the ball in the first half.

"We had a good first half on defense other than the one [touchdown] drive," Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen said. "Coming out in the third quarter absolutely killed us on the defensive side of the ball - we couldn't get out of drives.

"We threw a lot at them. We had some changeups - had everything we could possibly throw at them from bringing seven to dropping eight to two or three different zone coverages to man coverages. I think the kids executed that for the most part pretty well. In the second half, when we got into those positions to make plays, especially in the third quarter when it got away from us obviously, we weren't able to make those plays."

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But then, Washington's talent and championship level play surfaced, and Oregon State faded away.

The Beavers have been awful this season in the second half of football games. They're being outscored 147-49 in the second half through five games.

"That's an absolute, 100% trend," Andersen said. "I can't say there are not similarities. It's difficult to deal with."

Oregon State's offense was anemic and mustered just 184 yards. The Beavers didn't cross midfield until the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter with 104 yards. They didn't have any offensive success until Washington already had their backups on the field.

"We could not run the ball at all," Andersen said. "You watch the [Washington] kids that they have on their defense, and like I said all week long, those fronts - they're as good as you'll face in college football. There's no doubt that held up tonight. There was no creases in the run game. It was a dominant performance by a very talented defense."

Running backs Ryan Nall and Artavis Pierce were both dinged up a bit during the game, but neither of them are believed to be serious injuries and should be avaiable to play this upcoming Saturday against USC.

With Nall and Pierce not playing late in the game, it allowed Thomas Tyner to get involved in the offense, which was not the case through four games.

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Tyner finished with nine carries for 54 yards and a rushing touchdown.

"I'm happy for Thomas," Andersen said. "It's great to see him get the opportunity that he had tonight. That's exciting. I hope it can continue.

"The bottom line is - I don't care if you have Larry Csonka in there tonight - I don't think he's going to get any creases either. There was nowhere to [run] the ball. We have really good backs - three or four really good backs. But I'm happy for Thomas and he got that opportunity."

Coming into the game, true freshman Isaiah Hodgins led Oregon State with 17 receptions and third on the team with 156 receiving yards. He was also the recipient of Jake Luton's game winning touchdown pass in OSU's win against Portland State.

However, not only did Hodgins not play against Washington, he did not even see the field. Apparently, Andersen doesn't even know why Hodgins did not play.

"You'd have to ask Kevin McGiven that - and coach [Jason] Phillips. I have no idea," said Andersen. "I'm trying to do what I do, and I can't functionally handle every kid that goes in and out. To my knowledge, he was available. I didn't see him on the injury report."

In his first start at quarterback this season, Darell Garretson went 11-of-22 passing for 74 yards and had just one yard rushing. He was not sacked and had good protection throughout the evening. Nall had nine carries for 18 yards before suffering the ankle injury.

Defensively, Manase Hungalu led the way for the Beavers with 11 tackles and 2.5 sacks. True freshman safety David Morris recorded his first collegiate interception.